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Friday, Dec. 21, 2007
FIVE FROM SOCCER GAIN REGIONAL HONORS
Warriors represented on men’s team for first time in 14 years
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Five individuals from the men’s and women’s soccer programs have been recognized regionally for their performances during the 2007 season.
With the selections of sophomore forward Maxim Fantl (West Hartford/Hall HS) and senior keeper Jay Barney (Mansfield/E.O. Smith HS), the Eastern men were represented on the National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas NCAA Division III All-New England Region team for the first time in 14 years. A third-team pick, Fantl was one of only two players named to the team who was not either a senior or junior. Barney was a fourth-team pick as one of only four keepers named among the 44 honorees who were evenly divided among first, second, third and fourth teams.
The Eastern women maintained their presence this decade on the regional level. Senior keeper Megan Gloster (Agawam, MA/Agawam HS) was a fourth-team All-New England Region selection and was joined on the New England Women’s Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA) All-New England team by junior midfielder Nicole Gaudette (Colchester/Bacon Academy) and sophomore back Christine Lemieux (South Windsor/South Windsor HS). All three were third-team choices, with the three selections the most in a season in program history.
In identical fashion to the men’s all-region team, 44 all-stars were evenly divided among first, second, third and fourth teams for the women. A total of 41 players were recognized on the NEWISA team: 13 to the first and second teams and 15 to the third team.
It marked the first time that the NSCAA all-region teams included a fourth team.
Fantl, Barney end program's 14-year hiatus
Prior to this year, the Eastern men had been represented on the all-region teams with a total of seven selections in a nine-year span between 1985 and 1993. Only once, in 1986, had the Warriors had as many as two all-region picks. That year, junior Glenn Judge was named to the first team en route to All-America honors, and senior keeper Terry Hinesley was named to the third team. Prior to this year, Hinesley had been the only Eastern keeper so recognized. Until this year, freshman forward Stephen Chirgwin had been the program’s last all-region pick. Like Barney, Chirgwin is a native of Storrs/Mansfield and is a product of the E.O. Smith High School program. Chirgwin was a third-team pick in his only season at Eastern before transferring to the University of Connecticut.
Behind Barney, Eastern posted the lowest team goals-against average in the conference for the second straight year. A two-time conference Defensive Player-of-the-Year and 2007 MostOutstanding Player of the conference playoffs, Barney repeated as the LEC individual champion in save percentage (.880) this year and also led the loop in goals-against average (0.68) by a wide margin, and in shutouts (7). Prior to the NCAA tournament, Barney had posted five consecutive shutouts and a scoreless streak of 546:06, and concluded his career with 23 shutouts in 62 starts.
A first-team all-conference selection in 2007 after being named LEC Rookie-of-the-Year in 2006, Fantl finished the 2007 season in a tie for third in the LEC in points (22) and goals (9), He was the Eastern leader in points and goals for the second straight year and has 16 goals and 38 points in 39 career matches. Fantl scored the team’s first four goals this year and assisted on the next two and later scored four consecutive Eastern goals again. He also scored the only goal in the team’s 1-0 win over Rhode Island College in the LEC semifinals.
The men’s team enjoyed a remarkable season under first-year head coach Greg DeVito that included a first conference regular-season title since 1992, a first-ever LEC post-season championship in nine years of competition, a first-ever NCAA Division III tournament berth, first post-season appearance of any kind since 1992 (ECAC), and a final record of 11-7-3 – its first season of double-digit wins since 1992.
Gloster gains all-region accolades for first time
The regional post-season awards are the first in the career of Gloster, who joined Lemieux and Gaudette as a first-team All-Little East Conference pick this season after being named to the all-conference second team as a junior. In her first season at Eastern after transferring from Division I, Gaudette had been tabbed to the NSCAA All-New England Region second team as a defender in 2006.
Gloster enjoyed the finest season of her four-year Eastern career, starting 16 matches in goal with a 5-2-2 won-loss-tie record and amassing a 0.71 GAA and .900 save percentage in 18 total appearances, with three full-match shutouts in four full matches. In save percentage, she led the conference, third in New England, and ninth nationally. In goals-against average, she was second in the conference, seventh in New England, and 40th nationally. Her first three full-match efforts of the year all resulted in shutouts. She blanked nationally-ranked Amherst College, 0-0 in double overtime Sept. 12 with a career-high 12 saves, and in the LEC semifinals, shut out Keene State for the second time during the season, 1-0 in overtime. Gloster compiled a shutout streak of 313 minutes and 31 seconds over eight appearances in October. She concluded her career ranked third all-time in save percentage (.854).
A wing back, Lemieux was the backbone of an Eastern defense which tied program records for consecutive shutouts (6) and shutouts in a season (11) and which ranked first in the conference in least number of goalie saves (108) and least number of goals allowed (15), and second in shutouts and GAA (0.76). Lemieux started all 18 matches in which she appeared, leading all players in minutes per game (88.4) and total minutes (1,591), and playing every minute in 14 of 18 starts (including the last six matches). During the season, Lemieux was named the conference’s Defensive Player-of-the-Week Oct. 8 after helping the Warriors to back-to-back shutouts in which the opponents managed only nine shots.
Gaudette led Eastern in scoring for the second time in as many seasons last fall. She topped the Warriors in goals (10), assists (6) and points (26) this year and closed out in the conference rated fifth in points (playing four less matches than one player ranked ahead of her and seven less than the other three), third in points per game (1.44), tied for fourth in goals and third in goals per game (0.56), tied for seventh in assists, and tied for sixth in assists per game (0.33).
The Eastern women were 11-6-2 last fall, winning at least ten matches for the seventh straight year. As the No. 2 seed in the LEC tournament, the Warriors reached the tournament final for the third time in five years before losing, 2-1, to eventual national semifinal Western Connecticut.
In eight seasons under head coach Chris D’Ambrosio, Eastern has had eight all-region picks (including three in 2006) and ten selections to the NEWISA all-star team. Since 1988, the program has been represented with 17 all-region and 15 NEWISA selections.
